Musings of a Composer

Rejection is hard. Or perceived rejection. Much more fun to feel I am reaching people with my music, to feel their positive reaction to it. I’m lucky that I’ve experienced both, frankly. Because the positive reactions make it all seem worthwhile, and the negative ones keep me grounded in the reality of how personal music really is to people, and how what is needed in each moment for a person can and does change. What I need changes. What the world needs changes, too — and so it is important not to take it all too personally, but to trust the process and proceed as we go. One of the most striking “rejections” I experienced was when we played for the Dalai Lama’s visit to the State Theatre in Ithaca many years ago. We didn’t open, we closed — playing at the end of the program, while everyone needed to wait to exit until the Dalai Lama had made it a few blocks away, for security reasons.  The “all clear” announcement came over the sound system partway through our first piece, and 99% ...